


Caring for the Broken

by Naoshiro



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Fluff, Grief/Mourning, M/M, PostWar, Slow Build, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-19
Updated: 2014-02-04
Packaged: 2018-01-05 04:04:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1089408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naoshiro/pseuds/Naoshiro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"…It's killing me to see him pretend to be okay when he's not…" (Jasper turns into Jasico in this fic. This is set after they win the war against Gaea.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Jason Wants To Stop Dreaming

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s Note: Basically I just want to see where I’m going with this fic (yes the series of chapters are not finished yet since IDEK if I want to [or if I can] see it through to the end). Feel free to join me on my ride to discovery.
> 
> Mandatory Author’s Note (because I want to explain myself): I’m totally cool with people who ship Jasper, and I can respect that. And this fic does have Jasper at first. But I didn’t kill Piper off in this fic because I hate her. I don’t hate Piper, I just don’t like shipping her with Jason. Her death was kinda necessary for this fic to even progress with its plot so... Yeah.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series or the Heroes of Olympus series.

The war with Gaea has claimed many lives, and Piper McLean had lost hers. Jason Grace couldn't live with himself.

Jason couldn't turn to Leo. Ever since she died, the son of Hephaestus tended to keep himself busy with building new things and repairing his old inventions, all the while muttering something about finding an island. He could feel his best friend was on a mission for something important, and the son of Jupiter didn't want to distract Leo from his work when Leo's on fire with ideas (and sometimes, literally on fire).

Jason couldn't face Piper's father, Tristan McLean, either. Besides being a high-end celebrity that Jason had no hope of ever getting even a mere appointment with, Jason didn't think it was a good idea to speak with the father of the girl he thought he killed.

Jason couldn't trouble Reyna with it. He figured Reyna had to be tired of his bullshit by now, ever since he had led her to believe they could have had something together. Not to mention it would be uncomfortable to discuss it with her. Reyna was busy with affairs at Camp Jupiter, which was no surprise, and Jason knew better than to distract her with trivial things. Trivial to her, that is.

Jason couldn't bother Percy or Annabeth. After finding out what he and his girlfriend had went through in Tartarus, Jason had felt discouraged from burdening either of them with anything. The pair had started living together in New Rome about two weeks ago and have been busy with college life since then. The amount of Iris messages between Jason and them had been dreadfully small since they moved to New Rome, and the conversation was always brief. Jason would constantly waver between spilling his guts to them and keeping his grief to himself, and he'd always end up doing the latter.

Jason could say the same for Iris messages between him and Hazel or Frank. He also didn't have the guts to ruin their happiness with his problems. The son of Mars and the daughter of Pluto had already moved on from the daughter of Aphrodite's death a little less than a month ago. Talking to them about Piper now would be like reopening an old wound. Jason simply didn't want to see Hazel weep against Frank's chest again, knowing that Piper and Hazel had become very good friends during the time they spent on the Argo II.

Jason couldn't speak to Nico about it. Nico had issues of his own to sort out, and Jason didn't want to add to them.

He remembered what Nico had told him at the balcony of the South Wind palace when they got stranded in Africa.

"I'll take you to Epirus. I'll help you close the Doors of Death. Then that's it. I'm leaving – forever."

And, true to his word, Nico had mysteriously left a day after Piper died. No one knew why the son of Hades left and what had become of him now. Jason believed, no, _knew_ Nico was alive. His gut feelings have made him refuse to think that the Ghost King was probably a ghost himself during the days that followed Nico's disappearance.

A small part of Jason chided himself for not trusting his friends and comrades enough to talk about it. But the son of Jupiter was no burden. He always tried to push his personal feelings aside for the sake of duty. For the sake of normalcy. For the sake of not making these particular people worry about him.

Other people usually avoided talking to Jason unless it was important, and it suited the son of Jupiter just fine. What bothered him is that, when they talk to him, they spoke with obvious hesitation and guarded expressions, watching what they say around and to the Roman. There was always a look of wariness in their eyes that scrutinized Jason's face for a sign of anything wrong. He could sense their worry, like the son of Jupiter had been an ominous grey cloud about to pour down heavy rain at any given moment. Those other people he conversed with said nothing more meaningful or deeper than the condolences they offered when they couldn't avoid bringing up the sensitive topic that is his dead girlfriend.

Despite not speaking about his feelings with anyone, it wasn't as if Jason hadn't tried to move forward on his own.

He did take up a few girls' offers to date them in an attempt to get over Piper, but they'd stop seeing him after a date or two because he was too hung up on the daughter of Aphrodite. He tried smoking and drinking, but Piper's look of disapproval would cross his mind every time he would take a drag or a glass of any alcoholic beverage, and made him quit a mere few days after starting. He would often think of joining Piper in the afterlife, but he had Camp Half-Blood and his friends to look after. He couldn't die even if he wanted to. Not when _she_ had sacrificed her life for him. He can't end the life Piper died for.

In the end, Jason was bearing the weight of his guilt and grief alone.

* * *

Jason pretended to be okay when there were other people around. He laughed at jokes, gave friendly smiles, made no indication that he often lost his appetite by eating despite not feeling hungry, and tried to be happy. But he could feel the underlying feeling of unease from everyone around him.

In any case, his cheerful front discouraged people from acknowledging the elephant in the room, namely, how Jason feels about Piper's death. He wanted to believe that, if he wears the cheerful mask long enough, it would become his true face.

Yet Jason struggles to keep the mask on every passing day.

Jason hadn't been sleeping well despite getting exhausted from physical training, which was his current method of busying himself enough to not think about Piper. His screams would echo throughout Zeus' Cabin on particularly stressful nights, thankfully not loud enough to make concerned campers come running in with weapons in hand to search for the monster causing Jason to yell in fear. Most of his nights were a tempestuous cycle of crying himself to sleep and waking up in tears not long after.

He would always dream of Piper when he slept.

The same scenes would repeat themselves in his head, starting with Piper swearing to the River Styx to protect Jason. Her words to him during that private moment on the Argo II had made Jason smile and kiss her deeply out of sheer love, especially with the way she visibly cared for the son of Jupiter.

The scene would suddenly shift into one of war, where a trio of Cyclopes working for Gaea had proved to be too much for Jason to handle in his worn-down state. Amidst the chaos, Jason had seen Piper making her way to him across the monster-infested battlefield out of the corner of his eye. The Cyclopes had surrounded him and kept attacking simultaneously. Jason had been weary from summoning winds and lightning that only seemed to lessen and not stop the onslaught of blows to his person. He had been unable to fly any higher than the towering monsters; the first few times he did so, they had swatted him down to the ground like a worthless insect. For hulking creatures, they had unbelievably fast arm reflexes. It would have only been a matter of time until he tires out completely and collapses, vulnerable to monster attacks. Just as he had carelessly turned his back to one of the three Cyclopes to deal with the other two, he had heard Piper's voice yell out " _STOP!_ " in Charmspeak at the top of her lungs. The extent of her Charmspeak was so great that it had affected even Jason, causing him to freeze in his spot as had the Cyclopes and nearby monsters. But the Cyclops behind Jason had heard that command mid-swing, and it was too late. Piper had shielded Jason's frozen body with her own, taking the punch the Cyclops threw while shoving Jason out of harm's way. Jason had fallen forward when Piper pushed him. Her body had skidded across the dirt, lying limp and deformed among monster carcasses. Piper had taken a blow that proved to be fatal, fulfilling that oath she had made with her dying breath. Although he had finally received his father's godly blessing after seeing Piper's battered body on the ground and, in result, wiped out a good majority of the enemies around him starting with the Cyclopes in a fit of rage, Jason had felt responsible for her death ever since.

The next scene would show Piper's lifeless body in his arms as he carried her away from the silent battlefield. They had won against Gaea, but Jason felt like he had lost.

On nights where he wouldn't immediately wake from the memory of carrying Piper's body back to camp, his mind would proceed to make him dream of things he knew didn't happen but scared him nonetheless. His dream would often continue to show Piper stir in his arms, asking him why he let her die as her kaleidoscope eyes cried tears of blood. Degrees of her body's decay varied from dream to dream. Sometimes the dream would show Leo shake his head at Jason and walk farther and farther away regardless of how determinedly Jason ran or flew to catch up to him. And sometimes the trio of Cyclopes would beat him up in his dreams, and Jason would just let them.

Due to the nature of Jason's dreams, the number of sleepless nights continued to increase for the Roman.

Jason just wished he'd stop dreaming altogether.


	2. Nico Talks To The Dead (Not That It's Anything New)

Nico was, as a matter of fact, alive. He had been busy with trying to find a way to bring Piper back to life.

He was taking long with searching for a soul that he could exchange for Piper's soul. He was taking even _longer_ with trying to summon Piper's ghost. And after weeks of searching, he's still without any leads on her soul's whereabouts.

For a month and counting, Nico spent half of his time shadow-travelling to places where the smell of death was strongest. He would then summon as many souls as he can using quite a number of Happy Meals dumped into an empty pit or pool to see if any of them were the special kind of souls that had avoided death and to ask if they've seen Piper around. The other half of his time was dedicated to resting in order to recover from the strain of constant shadow-travel and summoning.

Nico has tried to summon Piper's ghost many times after her death, but to no avail. He's starting to get the feeling that Piper didn't want to be found.

Admittedly, Nico has had thoughts about giving up on the idea of bringing Piper back to life. But every time he wanted to give up, the hope of seeing Jason smiling the way he did around Piper gave him all the motivation he needed to continue the arduous task. He couldn't take seeing Jason lonely and heartbroken as the son of Jupiter had been when he had carried Piper's lifeless body to camp. Jason wasn't a son of Hades, so Nico took it upon himself to deal with the affairs of the dead for the Roman without his knowledge.

He didn't and _couldn't_ tell Jason he was trying to bring Piper back to life for four important reasons.

The first and most important reason: He didn't want to fill Jason with false hope. If he didn't succeed with bringing Piper back to the realm of the living, he's scared that Jason would hate him for getting his hopes up. He decided that if he would tell Jason, Nico had to have something to show for it. Like a solid plan to execute that would guarantee Piper's return. Not fruitless searches for a soul that had avoided death, and especially not the fact that Piper didn't seem to want to be summoned.

The second reason: He didn't know what Jason would think of Nico's attempt to bring Piper back to life. Jason might have dismissed the idea as balderdash if Nico had told him, and continued to drown in sorrow. The Ghost King also thinks it's possible that Jason might drive himself insane, obsessed with finding a way to bring his girlfriend back to life like a man literally mad with love. For all Nico knew, Jason might even be _against_ the idea of bringing Piper back to life for one reason or another.

The third reason: It was almost impossible to find a soul that has hidden from death. He remembered Daedalus who didn't exactly _die,_ but had transferred his consciousness into an automaton to keep hiding from death. Finding him had been a bitch. If death couldn't find a soul that has evaded it, there was a similarly small chance Nico would come across a soul like that, no matter if he was a son of Hades.

The fourth reason: Piper might not want to be brought back to life. And it certainly is starting to look that way. Nico dreads that she would pick reincarnation over returning to the living world as herself, like Bianca had done.

The son of Hades emptied plastic cups of Coke and cardboard containers of fries into an empty fountain in the middle of an abandoned park. His mouth watered at the smell of the burgers he unwrapped and tossed into the fountain. He made a mental note to eat a decent meal after this summoning.

He started chanting in Ancient Greek and saw souls coming forth to see if they may partake in the offering. Nico's eyes scanned the group of humanoid shapes, furrowing his brows and internally sighing as he continued to chant for he didn't sense a single soul that had avoided death. He held his Stygian iron sword, keeping the stirring spirits at bay. "Piper McLean, appear!" Nico's voice echoed through the park. He waited.

…

…

…

About thirty minutes had already passed, and still nothing. The spirits dared not to make a sound during this time, not wanting to incur the Ghost King's wrath.

The Ghost King mentally recounted how many Happy Meals he had to buy for several attempts at summoning her ghost, and swore under his breath. But when he was about to try and end the ritual, a pale pink translucent humanoid shape emerged from the bunch of spirits present and sat on the edge of the fountain. Its ghostly arm reached down and scooped up some Coke, pressing its filled hand against where its mouth should be.

"McDonalds. Sweet!" a familiar voice said. Nico recognized it as Piper's. Her face took shape first, and her body followed, dressed in a Camp Half-Blood shirt, denim shorts and worn-out sneakers. Piper, though a translucent ghost, was clearly delighted to see food again after spending a fair amount of time in the afterlife.

She reached into the Coke pool and fished out some fries, accidentally snagging a small soggy piece of burger meat. She wrinkled her nose at the sight of the patty and said, "You do know I'm a vegetarian, right?" before chucking the meat back into the fountain.

"I've been trying to get in touch with you for weeks." Nico's eyes brightened. The sight of Piper right now was like an oasis in the middle of a desert. Nico's search would soon draw to a close.

"I know" was all she managed to say before popping a soggy fry in her mouth.

" _What?_ " He couldn't hide the annoyance in his tone. Nico was starting to feel a lot like his frustrated younger self who was denied from seeing Bianca because she herself didn't want to show up when she had been summoned.

Piper shrugged her shoulders while she picked idly at the bunch of fries in her hand, carefully avoiding eye contact with Nico. "I thought you would have given up on finding me after so long."

 _If only you knew,_ Nico thought grimly, remembering the time Bianca finally responded to his summons only because Percy had been present.

Nico balled his fists, one of them curling around the hilt of his sword. "I had to find you. Jason-"

"Has to move on," Piper said insistently, cutting Nico short.

Before Nico could open his mouth to speak again, Piper continued. "If Jason really loved me, he'd let me go. I'm _dead,_ Nico. And I honestly want to move on."

"Jason cares about you." Nico couldn't help but feel angry at her for refusing to come back to life for Jason.

"And I care about Jason. That hasn't changed." There was a hard edge in Piper's voice. "But hanging on to the memory of a dead girl will only cause him a lot of grief. I've seen Jason these past few weeks, and it's killing me to see him pretend to be okay when he's not. He's on a slow path to self-destruction and he's stubborn enough not to talk about it with others since he thinks he'd only be a burden."

Nico was never aware of how Jason was doing. His dark eyes widened a little, and he put his sword away.

"He needs friends like you with him now more than ever, Nico," Piper continued.

"But Piper-"

"Don't you see that you're just tricking Jason into believing that I'd come back with what you're doing?" She looked at Nico with a steely gaze of quiet fury, which was uncharacteristic for any normal child of Aphrodite, but seemed very typical for Piper. Her fist tightened around the soggy fries, turning them into potato paste.

Nico glared back at her. "Jason doesn't even know I'm doing this."

After a beat, all Piper managed to say was "Oh."

She threw the mushed fries back into the Coke pool and wiped her hand on her pants. "Well, that changes everything," she murmured, a knowing smirk playing on her lips.

Nico heard her, but didn't get what she meant by that. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I think it's sweet that you want to bring me back to life, but I still don't want that kind of life. I'd really like to try rebirth a shot, you know. Starting fresh sounds like a really good plan," Piper smiled melancholically, gazing at a soggy bun that floated in the fountain.

Nico could say nothing in response. His expression was blank. He thought about Jason, who might have wanted to see Piper live again as herself, and not as a new person. The son of Hades hung his head and proceeded to sit down on the edge of the fountain next to Piper with his shoulders hunched.

"Hey, Nico?" Piper bent forward to see Nico's face more clearly. "You're worried about Jason, aren't you?"

Nico rested his chin on his palm propped up by his elbow perched on his thigh. He glanced at Piper and saw her smiling warmly at him during that short silence. "Yeah, I'm worried about him," he finally said.

"I watch you when you're with Jason. You're pretty comfortable around him. I had a feeling you liked boys," Piper said matter-of-factly. Nico's body stiffened when she mentioned that last sentence.

"To think I used to believe it was _Annabeth_ you had a crush on," she chuckled to herself.

Nico was more than mildly annoyed that Piper thought it was Annabeth, and partly afraid that Piper would shun him like he expected her to after finding out his secret on her own. He refused to meet the daughter of Aphrodite's kaleidoscope eyes. His jaw tightened as he suppressed the desire to shadow-travel away. He felt like he had to listen to whatever she had to say, in case she had to say anything Jason should hear.

"Nico, it's totally okay for a guy to like guys." Piper seemed to be okay with it. Nico was… _somehow_ relieved. He was still trying to process the fact that Piper had been the second mortal, the first having been Jason, to know of his secret.

"I know you like Jason, and I'm cool with it." Nico quickly whipped his head to her direction and looked at Piper incredulously at the mention of Jason's name. He had liked _Percy_ back then _,_ not Jason.

"You're a really good friend to Jason for doing all this, Nico." Nico honestly thought he was the opposite of a good friend for abandoning Jason.

The daughter of Aphrodite leaned in close to Nico's ear. "I wouldn't mind if it was you," Piper whispered.

She drew back with an amused smile on her face. "Take care of him for me, please?" Piper said as she started to disappear. Her translucent form became increasingly transparent.

"No, wait! I don't-" But Piper had disappeared before Nico could finish. "-understand." Nico's voice faltered on that last word.

The son of Hades was puzzled. _What would she not mind?_

* * *

As the Ghost King sat down in an unoccupied seat by the window overlooking the near-deserted parking lot of the nearest McDonalds with a tray of food for dinner in front of him, he thought about how Piper was pretty shitty at guessing who he really liked for a daughter of Aphrodite. He had always assumed Aphrodite kids were supposed to have great intuition when it came to stuff about love. Like Cupid.

He frowned at the cheeseburger he took a big bite out of when Cupid's blood-red eyes had crossed his mind. The day Cupid made him confess a big secret in Jason's presence was still a relatively fresh memory to Nico. He chewed on some still-hot crispy fries he haphazardly crammed into his salivating mouth when he remembered the rocky start of his growing bond with the Roman.

Jason had wanted Nico to stop hiding, take a risk and trust him during that one conversation they had when they got stranded somewhere on the northern coast of Africa. The son of Hades hadn't responded very well to that and left in a huff. Nico had thought about trusting Jason, and he admitted that the son of Jupiter did have a point. But Nico wasn't prepared to emerge from the shadows just yet. He needed more time in order to come into terms with himself and believe Jason's words that people wouldn't turn him away.

Jason had been considerate and patient. The son of Jupiter had backed off to give Nico some space after the spat they had at the South Wind palace's balcony. He had trusted Nico with his life when he took the chalice from the Ghost King's hand and drank the poison it held. And Jason was _there_ for Nico. He had his back during the big monster fight in the depths of the Necromanteion. He had held Nico up when the son of Hades had been too tired to stand on his feet. Jason had even expressed his worry and concern when Nico had volunteered to shadow-travel the Athena Parthenos, Reyna and Coach Hedge all the way to Camp Half-Blood. And he had done all of that without Nico asking him to, even if Nico hadn't treated Jason the way he should have. He didn't ask for a friend like Jason, but Jason had been a friend to him anyway.

The son of Hades now regrets leaving without telling anyone. He thought about Hazel as he sipped on some Coke. Nico hasn't seen her since he left, and he wondered how she had been doing. But _Jason_ … Nico felt like a total dick about the fact that he had left the son of Jupiter alone to deal with his loss. It looked like Jason was the only one having a hard time moving on from Piper's death.

But on another note, he was relieved that Piper had shown herself in response to his summons earlier rather than later. She had asked the Ghost King to take care of Jason in her place, after all. Which meant he had to get back to where Jason was as soon as he possibly could. Nico hoped it wasn't too late for him to be there for Jason.

Nico briefly wondered if Piper had used a bit of Charmspeak earlier to convince him, but his gut told him it was his own decision to return to Jason.


	3. Jason Sleeps Naked

The Ghost King noted that Jason mumbled in his sleep.

Nico emerged from the shadow of Zeus' statue and made his way soundlessly to Jason's bedside in a spot out of the statue's line of sight.

"Piper," Jason breathed, sounding afraid. He was gripping the sheets tightly as he lay sleeping. The lightning that streaked in the constantly moving mosaic on the ceiling lit the room dimly like a flickering light bulb every few seconds, so Nico was able to see the son of Jupiter's troubled sleeping face beaded with sweat.

The Ghost King, much to his displeasure, also noted that Jason was either sleeping in only his underwear, or sleeping nude beneath the sheets. He couldn't really tell.

Jason's soft pained whisper of "I'm sorry" made Nico flinch, as if the sleeping Roman had read his mind.

Nico stood there, not knowing exactly what he should do. Should he wait for Jason to wake? Should he wake Jason up? Should he have gone to Hades' Cabin first to rest a couple of hours before greeting Jason in the morning?

But it seemed like Jason's screaming answered his questions for him.

Nico was so surprised that he had jumped back and readied his Stygian iron sword. Another fearful shout from Jason reminded him that the only danger present that moment has been in the form of a nightmare the Roman was experiencing.

Thankful that Jason wasn't entirely awake to see that embarrassing reaction, he quickly strapped the sword back to his chain belt, leaned one knee on the edge of the bed, and bent down to grab the blond firmly by his bare shoulders and shake him.

"Jason. _Jason,_ " Nico tried to get him to wake. Tears started to run down Jason's face as he screamed again, this time directly to Nico's face. Nico grunted as he used one hand to slap Jason partly for temporarily deafening him, and partly for startling him.

Jason stopped screaming, but was now awake and breathing heavily. His knuckles were white as they held on to the sheets. He turned his head to look at a disgruntled Nico with one knee on his bed and a pale cold hand on his bare shoulder first with fear, then confusion. He touched his cheek still feeling raw from the slap and winced.

"I guess you're not a dream," Jason said, trying to normalize his breathing rate. He pressed the heel of his hand against his forehead, feeling an oncoming headache as Nico let his shoulder go. He must have been shouting intensely, judging from the impressions Nico's nails had dug onto his skin and the blatant displeasure apparent on the Ghost King's face.

"I'm very much real, Grace," Nico gritted his teeth as he stood back up by Jason's bedside. He bit back a curse as he shook his stinging hand.

After a short period of silence, Nico finally said "I'm back." He watched Jason rub his eyes while he sat up.

_Nude,_ Nico mentally noted as his eyes accidentally travelled further down Jason's broad muscled back that glistened with sweat. The Roman's muscles were more defined than the last time he saw them, and Jason's skin was paler than it had been more than a month ago. He quickly focused back on Jason's face, hoping that his unintentional examination of the Roman's body would go unnoticed.

"Yeah. I can see that," Jason smiled at Nico. The sweet smile was a great contrast to the dark bags under his blue bloodshot eyes and the tearstains on his cheeks, one of the cheeks a bit swollen. The scar on the corner of Jason's lip seemed to quiver.

Nico decided not to comment on Jason's current state just yet.

* * *

_I knew you were alive._

"You left without telling anyone. I was worried," Jason told Nico. His smile wore off as he stared at the Ghost King with concern.

Nico mumbled a quiet apology, twisting a skull ring on his finger as he did so.

Although Jason looked relatively calm on the outside, Jason's heart pounded in his chest as he tried his best not to recall his latest dream. He was thankful for Nico's intervention. He feared that his dream would have grown uglier if the son of Hades hadn't slapped him awake.

Speaking of Nico, Jason had questions to ask him.

"So, what brings you here?" he asked.

Nico stopped fiddling with his ring. His shoulders tensed slightly, but his pale thin face remained unreadable under the cabin's flickering light. "I came here for you," he said. His dark brown eyes shone with quiet resolve for some odd reason. Jason thought that maybe Nico was going to escort him to the Underworld like a typical Grim Reaper or something.

* * *

"I'm glad you're here, man. But why just now? What have you been doing? Where have you been all this time? How are you feeling? Are you o-"

"Jason," Nico interrupted. "One question at a time," he said, a ghost of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He would have asked some of those questions to Jason himself.

Jason stared intently at Nico. The Ghost King was aware that the scraggly black hair that framed his gaunt face had grown longer and choppier over the time he had been gone, but he was still basically the same in matters of appearance. Still dressed in all-black. Still wearing an aviator jacket and black combat boots. Still thin. Still pale. Still not as tall as Jason.

The Ghost King's face turned serious. "I'm sorry if I left without saying goodbye."

Nico hesitated before continuing to speak; it was better to break the news to Jason now. "I just wanted to bring Piper back for you-" Jason back straightened in attention and his face was painted with shock at this point. "-but she had only appeared to me a couple of hours ago. She thought I would have given up on finding her ghost after searching for about a month."

Nico waited for Jason to react. Those blue eyes seemed to burn holes into his face by how hard they stared at him.

"That's what you've been doing all this time? Finding her?" Jason's voice was quiet. Nico nodded in reply.

"She didn't want to be brought back to life. She wanted to be reborn, Jason." Nico's face was grim, but his tone had been firm.

Nico saw Jason's Adam's apple bob up and down as he gulped. "I see," was all Jason said in reply. His shoulders were slumped and there was sorrow in his stormy blue eyes. The son of Jupiter gazed down at the open hands on his lap.

"Piper wants you to move on," the Ghost King's voice didn't waver.

* * *

Jason felt like someone dropped a rock into his stomach and stuffed his throat with cotton. He could sense Nico was waiting for him to say something. _Anything._ But he didn't know how to react.

"Are you mad?" Nico asked. He heard no concern in the son of Hades' voice. It was a question asked out of curiosity, and Jason knew there was no deep meaning behind it.

Jason shook his head before hugging his knees to his chest. The sheets slid off his legs and ended up covering only his feet in the process, but he didn't care. He rested his chin on one of his knees and felt a wave of exhaustion suddenly overwhelm him for some reason.

* * *

The son of Jupiter was sitting naked and vulnerable, surrounded by an air of defeat on the bed before Nico. It was completely different from the image of the cool, calm and collected smiling demigod he knew Jason to be in his head.

Jason didn't look like he was mad at Nico for doing what he had done and saying what he had said. Jason didn't seem mad about _anything_. The Roman just seemed to accept everything and wallow in misery because of it.

Nico sat on the edge of Jason's bed, looking at him from over his left shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Jason," Nico sounded remorseful. It seemed like the only appropriate thing to say at that moment.

"Don't be. You did nothing wrong," Jason replied shakily.

"But I left. I should have stayed to help you through this." Even if Nico didn't specify what _this_ was, he knew that Jason knew what he had meant.

"You left to find Piper. And that was really thoughtful of you. Really. I'm thankful you told me what she told you." Jason, whose voice started to crack, still didn't look at the Ghost King. The Roman remained in his hunched up position.

The moment Nico put his left hand on Jason's right shoulder to reassure him somehow, he had known that the son of Jupiter was weeping. Jason trembled as he took in sharp breaths, whimpering as he buried his face between his knees and curled up further into a ball.

Nico shed his aviator jacket and draped it around Jason's shoulders. Jason grabbed onto the zippered edge of the right side of the aviator jacket with his left hand, gripping it like a child would a safety blanket, and wailed louder as his body shook. The son of Hades has never seen Jason so… _raw and exposed._ Both literally and non-literally.

Nico felt greatly concerned for the son of Jupiter. He quickly removed his boots and moved closer, sitting next to him. He rubbed Jason's back with his left hand and placed his right hand on the hand that Jason held onto his aviator jacket with. He let Jason release his stress through crying.

"I'm here for you now, Jason. It's going to be okay," Nico promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And at that moment, Nico di Angelo felt a little less like a dick.


	4. Jason's Still Naked

_A few days after the funeral, Jason decided to give all of Piper's belongings at Camp Half-Blood away. He simply didn't want to be reminded of Piper at the time._

_He left everything but three certain items to the inhabitants of Aphrodite's Cabin to be divided among themselves at their discretion. But before he left for Zeus' Cabin, he borrowed Aphrodite's Cabin's fountain to send Iris messages to the other five living members of The Seven. He told them to meet up with each other before seeing him at Zeus' Cabin because, in Jason's words,_ "it's important."

_Frank, Hazel, Leo, Annabeth, and Percy entered Zeus' Cabin roughly fifteen minutes after Jason sent out the Iris messages._

_They all saw Jason already sitting in front of Zeus' statue with a knife, a sword and a horn lying on the floor on his right. He beckoned for them to come forward._

" _Thanks for coming, guys," said the son of Jupiter with a tired smile. The five all shared a look of concern._

" _Jason, why'd you call all of us here?" Percy asked. The son of Poseidon sat cross-legged on the floor about two feet across Jason. Annabeth followed suit, sitting beside Percy while not taking her startling grey eyes off Jason. The rest remained standing behind the sitting couple._

" _I'm giving these away," Jason replied, gesturing to the items on his right._

_He picked up Katoptris and pointed the hilt to Annabeth._

_Annabeth looked at the knife sheathed in black leather then to the person currently holding it. She furrowed her brows. "So I heard right. You_ were _giving away everything she owned." The daughter of Athena sounded spiteful._

" _Take it," Jason insisted. "Please."_ I don't want to see it. It'll only remind me of her.

_Annabeth's features softened, as she probably remembered taking Piper to the Armory where the daughter of Aphrodite had found that very weapon. She looked sadly at Katoptris as she took it. Annabeth unsheathed the knife and stared at the reflective surface of the blade, and Jason assumed the images she saw had been unsettling, judging from how her eyes widened as she glanced at him. Percy put his arm around her and squeezed her shoulder, smiling softly at her as he did so. Annabeth leaned against Percy as she sheathed Katoptris. Jason figured she'd have use for Katoptris, seeing as Annabeth used to have a knife of her own._

_Jason picked up Zethes' sword and held it up with both hands, one supporting the handle, the other supporting a portion of the blade near its tip. He was careful not to cut himself with the sharp edge._

_Jason looked at Hazel and said, "She would have wanted you to have it."_

_Jason knew that Zethes' sword held important memories for both Piper and Hazel. After Piper's dealing with Khione, Zethes and Calais, Hazel had helped her train to use that sword efficiently back on the Argo II._

_Hazel sucked in a breath as she put her hand over her mouth. She had been on the verge of tears. She stepped forward and bent down to pick up the sword with her free hand, which Jason noticed had been trembling._

_When she stood back up, she went back to her spot beside Frank, burying her head in the praetor's chest. The son of Mars hugged her and stroked her curly hair to placate her._

_Finally, he took the cornucopia and stood up from his spot on the floor. He approached Leo, who had been uncharacteristically silent the entire time. He took Leo's hand and put the cornucopia there._

" _It's so you wouldn't have to go all the way to the Dining Pavilion for food. You can use the extra time for building things," Jason smiled calmly at the son of Hephaestus. He could feel tears forming in the corner of his blue eyes as he let go of the horn and Leo's hand._

_Leo managed a crooked smile despite the sadness in his brown eyes. "You're giving me ideas, Jason. With this, I might never leave Bunker 9 again."_

_Jason laughed, but the action had caused tears to run down his cheeks._

_Leo moved closer to wrap his arms around Jason's waist, and Jason held his best friend close. He could feel the cornucopia against his back and Leo's other hand grasping his shirt tightly. He felt something wet on his shoulder where Leo had rested his head._

" _Still can't believe she's gone, man," Leo said softly._

_Jason's tears streamed down his face, some of them dripping onto Leo's wiry black hair. He felt someone hug him from the side, and it was Hazel. Frank followed suit, then Percy, then Annabeth. They all hugged Jason in silence._

* * *

Jason woke up.

Though it had been somewhat refreshing to dream about something that didn't cause him to yell his tonsils out (figuratively speaking), that dream still bothered him. That very event had discouraged him from talking about Piper with any of the five ever again. He didn't like seeing them grieve, cry, or worry. It would have only caused them trouble.

A faint groan from beside Jason reminded him of Nico's presence.

The Roman stared at Nico's serenely sleeping face. _What about Nico?_ Jason thought. _He came here for me. Should I tell him?_

He had woken up with his hand still loosely hanging on to Nico's right hand. Jason's eyes stung from all the bawling he did last night, and his head hurt. His neck was a little stiff from not using a proper pillow. Not to mention he had morning wood.

Jason vaguely recalled Nico laying him back down on his bed and covering his body with his sheets last night, not caring if his aviator jacket got pinned between Jason's back and the mattress. Nico had propped his sword up by the bed and got under the sheets next to the Roman. Jason kept sobbing while he had reached for Nico's right hand that squeezed his left hand back in assurance. Nico had leaned his head and shoulders against the headboard and turned his body a little to Jason so the hand the Roman wasn't hanging on to could run soothingly through his blond hair in an attempt to pacify him. Jason had finally cried himself to sleep, but he somehow huddled closer to Nico during his slumber and ended up with his head resting on the Ghost King's left arm without meaning to.

He lifted his head and sat up carefully, trying not to move his hand that lay beneath Nico's so as not to wake the sleeping demigod. But as he managed to lift his torso to lean on his right forearm for support, Nico's eyes fluttered open.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, Nico was greeted by the sight of Jason posing a little like Adam in Michelangelo's _The Creation of Adam,_ with his lower body modestly covered by the sheets,while the Roman's face could be compared to Edvard Munch's _The Scream_.

"You look awful," Nico deadpanned, his voice still sounding a little sleepy. He flexed his numb left arm in an attempt to get the feeling back in it.

"Good morning to you too," Jason snorted. The Roman's voice sounded hoarse from the combined effect of the screaming and wailing he did last night.

They locked eyes. Nico's face remained drowsily blank as Jason smiled playfully at him.

… _It's killing me to see him pretend to be okay when he's not…_ The memory of Piper's voice resounded in Nico's head. In his mind, he questioned how real Jason's smiles have been since Piper passed away. If he had truly smiled during Nico's absence at all.

Jason cleared his throat. "Thanks for staying here with me last night." Jason's features softened as he said this.

"You're welcome," he said, casually slipping his hand out from Jason's. Nico had yawned when he crossed his legs beneath the sheets on his side of the bed while shifting his body to lean his back against the headboard.

Jason had a questioning look on his haggard face. "Did you feel awkward about me sleeping next to you? I mean if it is, I-"

"No." The Ghost King interrupted. "I was okay with it." _I didn't mind, and I couldn't leave you alone anyway._

Jason seemed relieved.

"But the fact that you weren't and _aren't_ wearing anything makes it awkward, Grace," Nico smirked.

* * *

The son of Jupiter rolled his eyes. It was Nico who had made an impromptu visit in the middle of the night to his cabin. And if he knew that the Ghost King was going to visit, he would have put on a shirt and boxers at least.

"Gods, fine. I'll make myself dress decently tonight-" Jason paused, realizing that he might have just implied that he'd meet Nico again later that evening.

"You okay?" Nico asked. He could sense the younger boy watching him closely.

Jason frowned and shook off the irrelevant thought before saying, "It's nothing."

Jason sat up, rubbing the back of his neck to help remove the soreness. He heard the muffled shuffle of fabric behind him and figured that Nico reached for the jacket Jason had been lying on. He looked back at Nico, who smoothed out the jacket and folded it up neatly. The son of Hades let the jacket sit on top of his stomach and rested his hands on it.

* * *

"That must have been quite a nightmare for you to have screamed at my face last night." Nico stated, meeting Jason's eyes.

Jason said nothing in response to that, but he faced forward, removed the sheets from his person and swung his legs off his side of the bed, turning his back to Nico.

"You know you can talk to me about it, Jason. _If_ that's what you wish to do." Nico's voice was still calm but firm.

Jason looked back at the Ghost King over his shoulder. "We can talk about it later, okay?" Jason said with a gravelly voice. Nico hoped that "later" meant "soon".

Jason's blue eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled at Nico before approaching the cabinet near his bed for a change of clothes and a towel. The son of Hades sorely wished that what he had seen was a genuine smile from the Roman, and not some attempt to hide how hurt he actually feels.


	5. Fleecy Must Be Loaded With Drachmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm _not_ ignoring Nico's problems in favor of addressing Jason's grief (though his grief is also important plot-wise since it's what started this fic in the first place). It's just that Nico's issues will start getting attention a little later. And when I mean later, I mean right in this chapter (though the issue being brought up here would stem a little more from his _parentage_ than his _sexuality_ ). A little subtle, but I think you'll find it there.

After freshening up and changing into a clean set of clothes, they both went to get breakfast at the Dining Pavilion.

Nico had lost much of his appetite as soon as his boots clacked against the marble floor of the pavilion. The grey jagged line left behind by the fissure he made to eliminate a few skeleton warriors during a heated conversation with Percy about Bianca still coursed through the middle of the floor up to this day. The Dining Pavilion became the most unsettling area in Camp Half-Blood for Nico because of that event, and the giant scar that marred the once-flawless floor won't ever let him forget it.

Ever since the new cabins for the children of Hades and the minor gods have been erected, new tables were added to the Dining Pavilion. And because it was expressly forbidden for demigods to sit at tables which didn't belong to their cabin, he and Jason had to eat separately.

Nico could feel curious stares directed to his person from some campers at the other tables. The staring started as soon as he was seen going to the pavilion with Jason. He felt uneasy when he was being watched, and felt nervous about what could be going on in their heads about him. He thought that they probably found it strange that everybody's golden boy had been seen with the universal outcast. The Ghost King tried to ignore the staring as he drank some water from his goblet and ate a few grapes from his otherwise empty plate.

He glanced discreetly at the other tables, expecting to see Annabeth, Leo or Percy, but all three of them were not present at their respective tables. Which was strange.

Nico doubted that Jason shared his troubles with any of The Seven. If Jason _did_ , he probably would not have been so utterly crushed last night when the son of Hades had broken the news to him.

Nico wanted to be mad at them for seemingly ignoring Jason in his current state. _Where_ were _they when Jason needed them?_ he grumbled to himself. But he thought himself to be no better than they were, having been gone for over a month without contact. Suddenly, promising to pay Fleecy a hefty sum of golden drachmas to block all incoming Iris messages for him for as long as he needed in order not to let Jason find out what he was doing wasn't as good an idea as it had been over a month ago. He had to talk to Fleecy to discuss how much he owed her.

He also thought about visiting Hazel after dealing with Fleecy. If Hazel knew about what was happening to Jason, there was a good chance she'd help him talk to the other living members of The Seven (and maybe even Reyna) about it.

* * *

Jason was looking a little worriedly at Nico as he ate, silently cursing at whoever made up the ridiculous rule which stated that demigods shouldn't sit at tables that don't belong to their cabins. He also noted that Nico subtly glanced at Table 3 (Poseidon's Cabin's table), Table 6 (Athena's Cabin's table), and Table 9 (Hephaestus' Cabin's table).

Jason's protective-and-supportive-friend tendencies from their days at the Argo II have resurfaced since Nico's reappearance, and he was happy about that for two reasons. First off, his attempts to be Nico's friend will (hopefully) be met positively by the son of Hades. And, second, it would be great if Nico's presence can ward off his unwanted thoughts.

Leo's too busy and is never around. The rest of Jason's closest friends were at Camp Jupiter and were probably as busy as Leo was. None of the other campers had seemed too keen on being friendly with Jason out of either respect or fear. But _Nico_ … The son of Hades' reappearance was a welcome surprise to Jason. _He_ was _alive. He_ came for _Jason. He's around,_ and would hopefully _stick_ around for a long while.

Jason wanted to believe that Nico's reappearance was the cause for the change in his usual nerve-wracking dream pattern. If they could spend more time together, maybe, just _maybe,_ the nightmares would stop. It was a _lot_ better than being alone when the guilt and grief would come and haunt him.

If they had sat together at one table, he would have conversed with the Ghost King normally and nagged at him to eat more; Jason was hoping that the actions would have convinced Nico that he had a friend and that Jason would stick by him. And, hopefully, it would encourage Nico to stick by him, too.

Jason just didn't want to feel so alone.

Jason finished his food and gulped down some orange juice to wash it all down. He left his empty plate and goblet at his table and made his way to Table 13. He received a few odd looks the closer he got to the table for the children of Hades, but he didn't mind them.

He stood behind the seat beside Nico. He feared that his hands would be a little too fidgety, so he shoved them into his pockets.

Without looking at Jason, Nico said, "You're not supposed to be here."

"I'm not breaking any rules. I'm not exactly _sitting_ at your table." Nico turned his head to look at him, and Jason greeted the Ghost King with a grin on his face.

Nico glanced back at his plate. He seemed to be anxious to leave as he ate the last of his grapes fairly quickly, pushed his now-empty plate forward and drank the rest of his water from his goblet. He tipped his head to the direction of the steps that led down the hill, and silently motioned for the son of Jupiter to walk outta there with him as he stood from his seat.

* * *

"Guess you're wondering where Percy, Annabeth and Leo are."

Nico stood perfectly still in the middle of the marble steps that led down the hill from the pavilion as soon as he heard Jason say this. Jason walked down a few more steps before looking back at him, raising his eyebrows as if to say: _Well?_

Nico averted his gaze. "How'd you know?"

"I saw you looking at their tables," Jason replied.

Nico made a face. Jason was more perceptive than he let on. He resumed going down the steps, not looking at Jason as he walked past the Roman. Jason moved, staying one step behind Nico as they went down the hill.

"Leo's probably still holed up at Bunker 9. And Percy and Annabeth moved to New Rome two weeks ago," Jason told Nico. "I _had_ planned on telling you, but for some reason, my Iris message didn't get through to you."

_Gee, I wonder how_ that _happened._ Nico was glad Jason couldn't see his darkly amused grin which lasted until he replied with, "I don't think it would have made any difference if you told me then, or if you told me just now."

"Wait…" Jason sounded surprised, abruptly stepping down to walk on the same steps beside Nico. "You're not… bothered by _him_ anymore?" Jason whispered quietly.

Jason sounded curious. Probing.

"It's still a little awkward to deal with _him_ ," he spat out the last word a little too scornfully. "But I'm just not surprised by them ending up living together," Nico shrugged.

Jason only hummed, like he was trying to process what he had just heard.

"I _meant_ what I said back at Split about giving up on Percy." Nico's voice was soft but insistent.

"I believe you," was all Jason said in reply.

When Nico thought about it, he hadn't even thought about Percy until Piper mentioned that she used to think Nico had a crush on Annabeth. In fact, ever since he had made it his mission to find a way to bring Piper back to life, all he ever thought about was the possibility of making Jason happy again.

He gave Jason a sideways glance and saw a contemplating look on the son of Jupiter's face. The son of Hades wondered when he had started to truly care for Jason's feelings, but then thought that the question of _when_ wasn't as important as the question of _why_.

_Why_ did Nico start to care so much for the son of Jupiter's feelings?

* * *

"So. Got any plans for today?" Jason asked as they made their way to the circle of cabins.

"I thought I'd go see Hazel later. I think I owe her an explanation for why I took off last month." _Actually, before that, I need to pay Fleecy what she's due, but you don't need to know that._

Jason hummed in agreement. "You'll be back, right?"

"I won't take too long," Nico replied.

"I'll wait for you," Jason declared. "We've got a whole month of catching up to do." The son of Jupiter smiled.

Nico nodded wordlessly at this, his dark eyes twinkling as he did so. Once they got near Zeus' Cabin, Nico turned to the direction of Hades' Cabin. "I'll see you later, Grace."

Jason watched Nico walk away and step into the shadow that Poseidon's Cabin cast upon the path down the row of cabins and reappear right in front of the Hades' Cabin. Once inside, Nico closed the heavy obsidian door behind him, and Jason went into Zeus' Cabin to grab his toothbrush and some other essentials.

* * *

72 golden drachmas later, Nico was now available for Iris messaging, and not so much affected by the amount he had to pay Fleecy. Being the child of a god whose Roman counterpart presided over wealth admittedly had its perks.

He checked himself before attempting to shadow-travel to Camp Jupiter, making sure his boots were less dirt-stained, his teeth were brushed clean, and his hair a little less… wild (which is, in itself, a bit hopeless; his semi-wavy hair would always stick up at some angles, and only a miracle (and a tub of hair gel) could fix that). He had made sure to leave behind his Stygian iron sword at Hades' Cabin, seeing as Terminus might kick up a fuss if he had shadow-travelled into New Rome with it. Nico didn't need a weapon if he was just going to visit Hazel.

He emerged from the shadow of one of the statues of Terminus, alerting the god of boundaries of his presence. He took a small stone tablet, his ID, out of his pocket and showed it to the statue.

"Nico di Angelo, ambassador of Pluto. Welcome back," the god said a little stiffly. Nico gave the marble statue a small nod and walked past him into the city, stuffing the small object back into his pocket.

He walked briskly down the cobblestone streets, eyes scanning for his sister. He could sense her nearby as he approached the vicinity of a nearby bakery.

There was a small line at the checkout, and Hazel was already paying the cashier for the bag of baked goods she held in her hand. She was wearing a purple Camp Jupiter shirt, jeans, and boots. Her gold-brown hair stayed untied. Nico felt relieved as soon as he saw her. He sauntered inside the bakery and tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to turn her curly head to him.

"… Nico?" Hazel's voice trembled in recognition of the dark figure that had silently entered the shop.

"Hello, sister," Nico smiled softly.

Hazel immediately wrapped her arms around him, trapping Nico's arms against his sides in a tight grip.

"Oh my gods," she cried. "You're back! You're finally back!" Hazel buried her head against the crook of his neck. Nico can feel her rapid breathing against the skin of his neck that wasn't covered by the collar of his aviator jacket.

"Hazel?"

"Yeah?"

"You're holding up the line," Nico pointed out.

Hazel looked up at Nico's face, then at the curious looks of the customers behind her in line. Hazel's golden eyes widened and red dusted her cheeks.

"Sorry," she murmured, making a hasty exit from the bakery with Nico. Hazel seemed to have forgotten her change as the cashier called after her, but she kept walking anyway.

Hazel had pulled Nico by the hand as she marched down the cobblestone street to the direction of the central plaza, and took him to stand with her near a gilded column where there weren't many people close enough to their spot to overhear their conversation.

"Where have you _been_? Do you even know how worried I was while you were gone?" her startling golden eyes that looked accusingly at Nico were watery. "The eagles always came back with my letter not sent. Not even _Iris messages_ could reach you." The paper bag crinkled in her tightening grip at her side.

"I'm sorry," Nico reached out and cupped her cheek with his pale hand. "I left without telling anyone, and I know now that it wasn't right. But I had to go."

"Why, Nico?"

Nico's voice didn't falter. "I wanted to bring Piper back to life."

* * *

With Nico gone temporarily, he was back to his solitary routine of distracting himself by working out. After brushing his teeth at the camp's public bathroom, he had gone to the Arena where other campers have already been training on their own or in groups to improve their fighting skills.

"Don't think about it," Jason breathed, punching the training dummy square in the head. It was a line he frequently told himself to take his mind off Piper. Demigods around him minded their own business, and didn't seem to hear the Roman talking to himself in a hushed tone.

The sound of his punches, jabs, and chops hitting against the leathery covering of the dummy mixed in with the clang of metal against metal, sword against sword. Javelins whizzing through the air and frustrated grunts from sparring partners were occasionally heard.

"Just don't think about it," he chanted.

Jason was aware of their eyes on him. He was the only one not using a weapon in the Arena, and he purposely left Juno's gladius behind at his cabin. Well, that's what he _thought_ they had been staring at him for. At the back of his mind, he thought that maybe a few of them were checking him out, but that line of thinking was unimportant to him and, therefore, never immediately entertained.

"Just don't think about it," he murmured, grabbing the dummy by its leathery neck with one hand and digging his nails into the material. Jason kicked the base of the dummy where its feet would be, making the dummy fall backwards as he slammed it down to the ground with the tight grip on its neck.

From his kneeling position on the floor when he had smashed the dummy's neck, and the rest of it, against the dirt, he got up and dusted his hands. He picked up the broken dummy and tossed it with the rest of the damaged ones in one corner of the Arena.

* * *

"-told me that Jason had to move on. And she told me to take care of him for her." Nico finished. He had told Hazel everything that had happened for the past month, save for what Piper had said about his sexuality, including that bit about him apparently having a crush on Jason. Nico wasn't ready to talk to Hazel about it yet.

"I didn't want to risk contact with anyone, especially those who were close to Jason." Hazel's eyes dimmed at the Ghost King's statement.

Nico continued. "I couldn't let him know about what I'd been up to, okay? I _had_ no choice but to cut all connections with the living to find someone among the dead."

"I understand, but you can't _leave_ like that without telling anyone."

"If I were to leave, you'd be first to know."

"I'm serious, Nico. I was worried _sick_ about you. You have friends that worry about your safety. People that wonder _where_ you are, and _if_ you're alright. Please, just don't disappear ever again." Hazel pulled Nico into a tight embrace. He could feel the warm paper bag through his aviator jacket.

"It won't happen again," Nico promised, returning the hug and burying his nose into the fragrant mess of curls on her head. He could feel her heart pounding as she clutched onto his aviator jacket. Nico took comfort in the thought that someone had been worried about him being gone, though he felt a little guilty about it.

_Yet another person I shouldn't have left behind,_ Nico closed his eyes as he stroked her hair to calm her down.

Hazel let Nico go and successfully blinked back her tears.

"So how's Jason? Did you go see him already?" Hazel asked.

"I went to his place last night. He's clearly not okay."

"It didn't seem like he was having problems whenever we talked through Iris messages," Hazel said.

"Did it ever occur to you that _maybe_ he was just _pretending_ to be alright?" There was a slight hint of irritation in Nico's voice.

Hazel shook her head. "It's so like Jason to pretend that nothing's wrong with him. Even as praetor, he had been one to try to solve problems himself instead of bothering his cohort's legionnaires or even _Reyna_ about it. We only get to find out he was dealing with an issue on his own when he had been desperate enough to ask us for help." Hazel smiled bitterly.

_…It's killing me to see him pretend to be okay when he's not…_ Piper's voice, once again, echoed in Nico's head.

The Ghost King's mouth was a thin line. "Jason hasn't talked to me about it yet, and I thought it should be something the rest of you should also hear. Since you're all close to him."

There was still worry in her eyes. "I'll tell Frank and the others about it when they get back to the house."

"House?"

"Percy and Annabeth started living together two weeks ago, and their house is just across the street from that bakery," she pointed to a house down the street. The simple white-walled house had square metal-framed windows, a row of potted plants near the wooden door, and a red-tiled roof. It looked large enough for a couple of people to live in.

"Frank and I hang out with them there from time to time. They said we'd be welcome to move in with them once our ten years of service are over," Hazel replied, her eyes brightening at the mention of it. "You're welcome to visit us there, and maybe join us for brunch." The daughter of Pluto was obviously hoping to spend more time with her brother.

Nico turned his head to the side with his eyes scanning the faces of a few college-age students near a fountain, sensing someone's eyes on him. "Maybe next time," he replied, facing Hazel and touching the shadow of the column with one hand.

"You're really leaving so soon?" Hazel asked.

Nico frowned. "Sorry. I just don't want to leave Jason alone for too long."

He was about to shadow-travel away when Hazel grabbed his free hand and let him carry the warm bag of baked goods with him.

"You should give those to Jason. They're his favourite," Hazel grinned, taking one step back from the shadows that surrounded Nico.

Nico gave her a small smile. "Just contact me when you guys are all free so we can all hear him out together. I'll be sure to answer you, or at least not hide from the eagles anymore if they come."

Hazel nodded, smiling sadly as she said, "Okay. Bye, Nico."

It pained Nico to leave Hazel so soon, but he thought Jason needed him around more. Also, there was no use letting the pastries go cold when they're meant for the son of Jupiter.

"Nico?! Is that you?!" a familiar voice coming from the direction Nico had turned to just a moment ago exclaimed.

An astonished Percy (clad in a New Rome University hoodie with his Camp Jupiter shirt peeking out from underneath it, jeans, and old dirty white sneakers), followed by Annabeth (with her Yankees cap, cargo shorts, a New Rome University sweater, and grey Converse high tops on) who had seemed more doubtful or disbelieving than surprised by the Ghost King's sudden reappearance, ran to where Hazel and a shadow-encased Nico were.

"Wait! Nico!" the son of Poseidon called out.

The son of Hades looked away from Percy, and disappeared before the son of Poseidon could grab the bag or his arm from his blanket of dark shadows.

* * *

"Hazel, that _was_ Nico, right? With _our_ bag of brownies?" Percy asked, turning to the daughter of Pluto.

"Yeah," she replied. "We can just buy some more, Percy, if that's what you're worried about."

"I'm not worried about that. I mean, why'd he suddenly have to go? He could have stayed with us for brunch or at least said hi," Percy told Hazel, puzzled by the son of Hades' actions.

"He had to go back to Camp Half-Blood. I'll explain everything later, when Frank joins us," Hazel replied. She glanced at Annabeth, who looked back at her with a grim expression on her face.

"I told you he'd come back. For Jason," Annabeth said to Hazel, sounding like a suspicion of hers had been confirmed.

Percy tilted his head, questioning the nature of his girlfriend's words to the daughter of Pluto, and wondered what Jason had to do with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Foreshadowing~_
> 
>  
> 
> Haha. Well anyway, I totally made up that part about paying Iris and/or Fleecy being able to block all incoming Iris messages. I mean, my made-up system goes like this:
> 
> **Step 1:** Contact Fleecy. She's more likely to answer you rather than the busy Iris would.
> 
> **Step 2:** Ask her if she can block all incoming Iris messages for you.
> 
> **Step 3:** She'll ask you to deposit 60 items of high value (golden drachmas are commonly used here, but other precious stones and precious metals are accepted) as initial service fee. You should probably dump them all unceremoniously into the rainbow. Weeping about the large sum of currency disappearing into a rainbow just like that is optional. But hey, you must have had a pretty good reason to pay for this kind of service, right? Right.
> 
> **Step 4:** Deal with it.
> 
> **Step 5:** She will tell you to Iris message her again if you ever decide to lift the Iris message-ban on your person when you want to resume receiving Iris messages normally. If you have no more questions for her, you may terminate the Iris message.
> 
> **Step 6:** Enjoy your Iris message-free life for as long as you need to. Regretting your decision to block all incoming Iris messages is optional.
> 
> **Step 7:** If you want to resume receiving Iris messages normally, contact Fleecy and tell her to lift the ban. By this time, expect that she will tell you how much you need to pay her for every single day she blocks incoming Iris messages for you. You should probably dump the currency unceremoniously into the rainbow. Weeping about the total amount is optional.
> 
> **Side note:** Fleecy and Iris don't really pay attention to whoever makes the blocked Iris message, since they act like telephone operators in this type of scenario.
> 
> **So there you have it.** My made-up Iris message system.
> 
> And on another note, I guess I can understand why they have that "you can't sit at tables that don't belong to your cabin" rule in the first place. If people can sit anywhere they want, cliques would form, the demigods people don't like will be eating alone at a table (which is sad), and it'll be stereotypical cafeteria hell all over again. A little bit like how the legionnaires eat at the dining hall in Camp Jupiter.


	6. He Has A Thing For Brownies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Imagine going without your favourite food for more than a month. You would probably understand how Jason feels in this chapter.

"Jason?" Nico called out as he emerged from the shadow of Zeus' statue. His voice echoed in the spacious cabin, and his footsteps were louder than they were last night. The Roman wasn't in the room.

Nico made his way out of the cabin, planning on searching the area for Jason. But he didn't have to, since, when he made it out the door, he spotted Jason already walking towards the direction of the cabin. Upon seeing Nico, Jason made a beeline for him, especially when he noticed the paper bag in the younger boy's hands.

"You're back," Jason beamed, looking pretty relieved to see Nico.

"Yeah," Nico said, looking at Jason's sweaty form. "Hazel told me to give these to you, but maybe you should take a quick shower first," Nico wrinkled his nose, holding the bag closer to his person.

"…Those _are_ brownies, right?" Jason asked, eyes looking hungrily between Nico's face and the paper bag.

The son of Hades unfurled the folded top of the paper bag and the smell of warm chocolate assaulted his nose. He looked inside and saw dark brown rectangles, each the size of a complete playing card deck.

"Yep," Nico responded.

"And this was Hazel's idea?"

"Uh-huh," he said, noticing Jason's face light up.

"Wait for me here so we can share," Jason was clearly excited as he ran past Nico and into the cabin. No more than five seconds was what it took for Jason to burst out of the bronze doors to the direction of the public bathrooms with a towel, a bar of soap, and a change of clothes in hand.

Nico folded up the top of the bag, chuckling at Jason's reaction to the brownies. When Hazel said that they were Jason's favourite, she wasn't kidding around.

* * *

Jason contacted Hazel using the rainbow that had formed by the sink near the open window of the foggy shower room, and he expressed his utter gratitude for the brownies she sent over. Hazel smiled cheerily at him, telling him that she owed him for a time when they had shared a brownie bought with the last denarius Jason had had in his pocket. Jason observed that Hazel was eating brunch with Frank seated next to her at a table somewhere indoors. He heard Percy's voice in the background, excitedly asking "Hey, is that Jason?".

Jason spent a good few minutes listening intently to Hazel talk animatedly about Frank's latest accomplishments as praetor and the victories they've been having during the most recent war games (the former had been responded to with a shy blush and an embarrassed splutter of "It's nothing" from Frank. Good ol' Frank was as humble as ever). Jason talked a bit about how surprised he had been when Nico came to his cabin last night, and how happy he was to see him back. And throughout the call, Percy made it a point to get at least his crinkly sea-green eyes seen from Jason's point of view. He assumed that the son of Poseidon leaned over the table, turned his body, and craned his neck so the top half of his raven-haired head could be spotted. A smile tugged at his lips when Percy playfully waggled his eyebrows at him. He imagined that cheeky smile of Percy's which he couldn't see because of his limited view of the dining area.

"What the Hades are you doing, Percy?" the daughter of Athena asked as Hazel continued to talk about how Hannibal broke through the defenders' wall. Jason could hear Annabeth saying, "You _could_ just stand up behind Hazel's chair, Seaweed Brain," in the background.

A few seconds later, Percy was grinning like mad as he stood behind Hazel's chair with his hands on either side of the backrest. There was a strange glimmer in those sea-green eyes as they didn't leave Jason's face, like Percy had been bursting to tell Jason something.

"Where's Nico?" asked Hazel after finishing her narration on the latest events concerning the war games.

"Told him to wait for me in my cabin so we can eat together," Jason grinned in excitement.

Hazel looked at something behind Jason. Puzzled, he turned his head. There was nothing behind him but occupied shower stalls. He quickly focused back on Hazel, and assumed that she was looking at something past the mist. Probably Annabeth, who seemed like she had been sitting across Hazel at the table. The daughter of Pluto looked halfway between concerned and surprised, but it was clear that she was trying to hide it from the son of Jupiter.

She looked back up at Jason, smiling this time, and said, "Well, Jason, I don't want to keep you from your brownies. We should talk again next time."

"Yeah," Jason replied, shrugging off Hazel's strange behaviour.

"Bye guys," he said. Annabeth and Frank replied with their goodbyes, but Percy interjected with "Don't hesitate to call us if you need to talk about anything. Anything at all."

Jason didn't know what had prompted the son of Poseidon to say that so spontaneously, but he smiled in response and let their image fade out as he waved his hand through the mist to terminate the Iris message.

* * *

"So. How'd it go with Hazel?" Jason inquired.

They were seated with the bag sitting in between them on the floor with their backs against the side of Jason's bed. The air smelled predominantly of chocolate, and faintly of clean-smelling bath soap from Jason's person. He had a towel draped over his wet blonde hair like a bridal veil, and delight painted on his face.

The son of Jupiter held a brownie gingerly in his hand, marvelling at its appearance like it had been valuable treasure. The last time he's had anything close to New Rome's brownies was the time he was fed ambrosia by Piper after handling the _venti_ that led them to Malta. The ambrosia had left a bitter taste in his mouth almost as much as the memory did now. Having the real thing… It didn't just take his tongue on a gastronomical joyride; it made him appreciate the fact that Hazel still remembers his favourite treat. Every bite had Jason reliving the memories of sharing them with the daughter of Pluto and, occasionally, Reyna back during his days at Camp Jupiter. He had a crazy wide smile as he inhaled its inviting scent, and bit into it.

"It was okay." A small sad smile played on Nico's lips.

Jason took another large bite, glancing sideways at Nico. "Well, how did she take it? I mean, you coming back." His speech was muddled by the brownies he chewed on.

"She was happy to see me," Nico replied. "It felt good to see her after so long."

Jason crammed the last of his brownie into his mouth and turned his head to Nico, the action causing the towel to slide off his hair to bunch up behind his neck and over his shoulders. "Take some," Jason said through a mouthful of brownie. He nudged the bag to Nico's direction.

Nico pushed the bag gently back to Jason's side. " _Please_ don't talk with your mouth full."

Jason chewed a little more, and then swallowed. He licked his lips.

"It's too much for me to eat alone. _Please_ , Nico?" Jason's big blue eyes and his sad pleading face practically _begged_ Nico to pick up a brownie. There had been a dozen brownies in that bag (ten now, since Jason just grabbed a second brownie), and because Jason had been consuming the baked goods with gusto, Nico figured that the Roman could scarf down all of them with no problem.

"Hazel said they were meant for you," he reasoned.

"But I said we could share," Jason insisted.

Nico went silent, still making no motion to take a brownie from the bag.

For a few moments, the only sounds in the cabin were the soft thundering noises from the ceiling, Jason's enthusiastic chewing after taking huge bites from his second brownie, and the appreciative noises the Roman was making at the back of his throat (which were done partly to entice Nico to try a brownie, and partly because the brownie was just _that_ good).

Jason swallowed before speaking. "Have you ever even tasted New Rome's brownies?" Jason couldn't believe that Nico didn't look even a little bit interested in the food. He grabbed a third brownie from the bag.

"No."

"Couldn't you at least try _one_?" Jason begged.

More silence.

"Come on, Nico. Just one brownie can't hurt, can it? And you're missing out on how delicious these are." As if to prove a point, Jason licked the thin coat of chocolate frosting off the top of the brownie. Nico only snorted at that display.

"You're absolutely crazy for these things," the Ghost King snickered. After a few seconds, Nico gave in. "Okay, fine. I'll try one. _Just_ one," he said.

Jason wore a triumphant grin as Nico finally reached his hand inside the paper bag. "You won't be able to resist taking a second. And a third. And a fourth. And a-"

"Jason, I get it." Nico rolled his eyes, smiling at the Roman's enthusiasm as he nibbled on the corner of the brownie.

Nico paused, motionless and wide-eyed as the brownie never left his lips in his stationary hand. His dark eyes seemed to shine with realization and he, too, couldn't resist making a soft moan at the taste of it. Jason's smile only grew wider and smugger at the son of Hades' reaction.

Nico opened his mouth wider, taking in more of the brownie. He sank his teeth into the chewy treat and bit off another corner. Nico turned his head to look Jason right in the eyes. He said nothing, but it was clear that he liked what he had just tasted.

 _Too stunned for words, I suppose_ , Jason chuckled to himself.

* * *

The bag of brownies got left behind on the floor in Jason's cabin, and Nico had suggested that they'd save the remaining few for later. On their way to grab lunch, they talked about afternoon plans, a conversation which was mostly just Jason suggesting things and seeing if Nico would agree to do them with him. The strawberries at the fields were still unripe, so picking for strawberries was a no-go. Nico was unsure about basket-weaving. Archery was shot down because Nico's aim with a bow and arrow sucked, and Jason was no better at it than he was. Their plan to go to the climbing wall was reserved for tomorrow morning, when there were less people trying to climb.

"No cheating though," Jason said. "Shadow-traveling to the top doesn't count."

"I'll play fair. But only if you won't fly to the top," Nico said, his tone teasing.

Jason gave him a half-smile. "Deal. How about canoeing?"

Nico looked over to the lake, where no one had gone canoeing on for the entire day. If they finish lunch early, he thought that no one would immediately think of going for an afternoon row. They'd be alone with the naiads. The serene and near-private atmosphere would most likely encourage Jason tell him what was on his mind.

"Sounds good," said the Ghost King.

As they talked, they made it to the foot of the hill.

Jason must have noticed how increasingly uncomfortable Nico looked as they went up the steps to the Dining Pavilion because he asked if Nico felt okay.

Nico replied with a small "Yeah".

"You sure you don't need to go to the infirmary?" Jason commented, raising the back of his hand to Nico's forehead to feel if he had a fever. Nico turned his head away from Jason, and the son of Jupiter had no choice but to retract his hand.

"I'm fine, Jason," he said, wishing the Roman would just drop it.

"Well, okay," Jason said a little glumly. He escorted Nico to Table 13, giving him a small smile before walking to Table 1.

Nico's eyes followed Jason, watching him grab a plate of freshly-baked bread from a passing wood nymph carrying a large serving platter. His eyes wandered to Table 9 in search of Leo, but he still wasn't there.

* * *

Nico let Jason propel the little boat forward with powerful strokes. He helped keep the canoe going in a straight line, paddling on the side opposite Jason's and using the paddle blade like a rudder to keep them from veering off their course to the middle of the lake.

"Is Leo not allowed to go out of Bunker 9 for some reason?" Nico wondered aloud.

Jason shrugged his shoulders, dipping the paddle into the water. "He's just busy," he said, keeping the paddle blade perpendicular to the edge of the canoe as he pulled the paddle back to push the boat forward.

Nico let the oar's paddle skim across the surface of the water, not saying anything for a while. I didn't feel right not to fill in the silence, so he tried asking another question. "He hasn't been at the Dining Pavilion. Is he even eating?"

"He has the cornucopia," Jason replied. Silence reigned once again as the canoe slowly drifted to a halt.

"You know what he's working on?" Nico asked, watching Jason shift in his seat to face him. The boat rocked as he did this, sending ripples that spread out across the water's surface.

"No, not exactly. But it looks like a really huge project to me." Jason replied, laying the oar inside the boat. Nico did the same thing with his oar.

_Now. Let's try to breach the subject._

"Does Leo know?"

"About what?" Jason's head tilted a little at Nico's question, and it made Jason look so innocent with those naturally pouty lips and bright blue eyes.

"Your night terrors." Nico observed Jason carefully, noting that Jason tensed and cast his eyes to the lake, where a few naiads were seen swimming in circles.

"I don't wanna distract him," Jason said. That was translated into a _No._

Jason started to look uncomfortable, so Nico opted for a change in topic.

* * *

"So, uh, Percy and Annabeth's house in New Rome looked pretty nice." He didn't sound so convincing to Jason, but at least he tried.

"It's homey, yeah," Jason recalled the well-lived in space Percy and Annabeth owned and shared with Hazel and Frank. "I've only seen it a few times, just whenever I Iris-message them and they happen to be there."

Jason shot a smile at a naiad that waved at him before he turned to Nico. All Nico seemed to do was _watch_ him with those brown eyes. He didn't mind it much, but he knew Nico was waiting for him to say something. Talk about his little _problem._ But what Nico wanted to hear, Jason didn't want to speak of.

On another hand, he wondered how the Ghost King was feeling. Nico has yet to tell him more about himself, and what else has happened to him during the past month. He was also curious about what Piper could have told him.

"You didn't exactly answer all of my questions last night," Jason mentioned.

Nico frowned. "What else did you want to know?"

"You said… you were trying to find Piper. Is that really all you did these past few weeks?"

"Yeah," he said bluntly. "But she didn't make it easy for me to find her." Nico's eyebrows were knit. "I probably travelled all around the country just hoping to see her."

"She's not mad?"

"Why would she be mad?" Nico asked him back.

Jason didn't answer that question. "Did she say anything about me?"

"Well…" Nico stared into Jason's hopeful eyes. "She said that if you really loved her, you'd let her go. You already know the rest from last night."

There was a look of hurt on the son of Jupiter's face. Jason slightly bent forward with his hands on either side of his thighs on his seat near the bow. His back was hunched and his gaze was directed to the empty seat between him and Nico. He mustered a shaky laugh as he asked, "How do I get over her?", with no merry twinkle in his eyes.

* * *

Nico couldn't tell if that had been a rhetorical question, but he responded anyway. With a question of: "Why ask me?"

"I thought I'd ask if you knew how to get over someone you really liked."

Nico thought it was an inappropriate choice of words. _Piper's someone you_ loved. _You_ loved _her, Jason. And you still do._ Nico looked uneasy as his hand involuntarily gripped his right arm.

"Ever tried seeing new people?" Nico inquired.

Jason's slow nodding didn't surprise him. "Never worked out," he said, lifting his head to take some time to stare at Nico with a question threatening to bubble from his throat.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you give up on Percy?" Jason's voice was so quiet, Nico almost had to bend forward to hear it clearly.

_Oh._

"You don't have to answer that if you don't want to," Jason said in a low tone.

"No. No, I mean. It's okay, Jason. I just-" Nico babbled, unable to tear his gaze away from Jason's eyes. The Ghost King let out a deep breath. "In my case, with him… I guess rethinking my priorities helped out a lot with that."

Jason's blue eyes were still looking directly at him. He had Jason's undivided attention, and Nico was wordlessly encouraged to continue speaking.

"I focused on something I thought was important, and I found myself not caring as much for him as I had before." His words were accompanied by a noncommittal shrug. "It kinda just fizzled out, I suppose. When I saw him at New Rome earlier, I didn't feel… _anything._ "

"You guys talked?" There was that weirdly endearing head tilt from Jason again.

"No. I felt no need to talk to him." _Hazel will do the talking for me._

Jason nodded slowly, as if to acknowledge what he had heard. "Priorities…" Jason said quietly to himself.

"What's important to you, Jason?" Nico asked, hoping it would help him. "Something other than her. Tell me what comes to mind."

"There's you," Jason responded immediately. Nico's grip tightened on his arm in surprise as Jason continued talking, oblivious to Nico's reaction. "Thalia. Leo. Hazel. Frank. Annabeth. Percy. Reyna. Camp Half-Blood. Camp Jupiter." Jason paused, trying to think if he missed anything.

"That's it," the son of Jupiter concluded. Jason didn't look as heartbroken as he was earlier, at least.

Nico felt his face heat up, still remembering what Jason first answered. "Of all the things you could have said first, why choose me?"

Jason managed a small smile. "You're here in front of me right now. 'Course I'd think of you first," Jason said, his expression saying: _Duh._

Nico looked at him like: _Seriously, Grace?_

His blush faded as quickly as it came. A look of disbelief replaced the flustered expression on his face. And Nico certainly didn't want to admit that he wasn't displeased by Jason's answer.

* * *

Nico was definitely getting jumpy every single time they go to the Dining Pavilion.

The son of Hades was pretty much fine during the whole afternoon, spending time just talking to and getting to know Jason on that tiny boat out in the middle of the lake. They made small talk, exchanged childhood stories and asked each other questions that didn't hit too close to home.

But Nico was perceived as unhappier the closer they got to the place.

"Do you not like going up there?" Jason asked, gesturing with his head to the area atop the hill.

Nico bit his lip, looking worried and saying nothing. Jason detected a hint of panic in those dark eyes.

They made it to the top of the steps.

Nico stopped in his tracks. Jason was about to turn around to ask him what was wrong when Nico grabbed his wrist, and Jason followed his hard stare down to the floor of the pavilion, where a long dark scar in the marble was.

He looked at the floor, and then at Nico, slowly making the connection. He opened his mouth in a silent _'Oh'._

Nico let him go, probably satisfied with the son of Jupiter's reaction, and let an unsure stare linger on Jason's face for a few seconds before turning around to walk to Table 13.

It was only now that he paid the long jagged line on the floor this much attention. During his stay at Camp Half-Blood, he assumed that it was already a permanent fixture on the floor. Part of the pavilion's design. A minor detail that _should_ fade into the background. But if Nico was bothered by it, it should be significant to the younger demigod somehow.

Now that he was given the scar on the pavilion floor as a clue to what was bothering Nico, he figured something must have happened in the area that the other campers weren't aware of, since they never looked as tense as Nico did when at the Dining Pavilion. They made no big deal out of it.

Jason was sure about one thing. It undoubtedly happened before he came to Camp Half-Blood. The grey line seemed to be there the first time he went to the Dining Pavilion.

As Jason approached a wood nymph with a platter of food and grabbed a plate of barbecue and cheese, he noted how long the scar went across the floor. With the plate in hand, he walked over to the bronze brazier along with a few other demigods and tossed the juiciest-looking meat into the fire as an offering to his father. Nico was already walking away from the fire with a plate of only half a bunch of grapes, a few strawberries, and breadcrumbs which Jason assumes came from a loaf he had offered to Hades.

Seeing Nico avoid stepping on the scar on the floor made him realize that _maybe_ Nico was responsible for it. He remembered the fissures that appeared whenever Nico was under stress, and their shapes were highly similar to the line on the floor. This giant crack in the floor must not have closed up properly, marring the floor of the pavilion for everyone to see (and ignore, save for one nervous demigod).

Jason remembered the spat he had had with Nico at the balcony of the South Wind palace back in Africa. There had been a fissure then, which closed up and left the floor looking like there had never been a huge crevasse that formed on it in the first place. Nico's control over his powers was just that good. If Nico had been the one to cause the scar on the pavilion's floor, this must have been a time when he was just getting a feel of his abilities as a child of Hades.

Stress and an inexperienced Nico combined didn't sound good at all. It sounded like a recipe for catastrophe.

Jason decided to keep his deductions to himself and let things be until Nico wants to talk about it. He didn't know what happened, and he didn't want to pry in fear of making Nico retreat to his old habit of not seeking the company of anyone whose heart was still pumping. Jason was already fortunate to see that Nico wasn't uncomfortable around him, and he wanted to keep that going.

Maybe, if… No, _when_ their relationship gets better, Nico would tell him. Eventually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who might think that it's weird for Nico to mind the grey line on the floor when he's over Percy, it is important to note that, while Nico says he is over Percy, he can't exactly help but remember what happened that day. "It's more of a Bianca-related thing than a Percy-related thing" - that's what I'm trying to imply here. It's a constant reminder of what happened to Bianca. Although he is not as affected by it in this part of the story as he was several years ago (well you don't see him opening up a crack in the ground every meal in this story), it's still unpleasant. So yeah.


	7. They Sleep Together

After dinner and going through their nightly ablutions at the camp's public bathrooms, Nico and Jason settled on the roof of Hades' Cabin upon the former's suggestion, watching the other campers sit around the bonfire that blazed a vibrant orangey-red. The strumming of guitars and the sonorous voices of the Apollo kids could be heard from Jason and Nico's spot on the bone-littered obsidian roof that was still warm beneath them from sun exposure. He couldn't make out the lyrics, but he was pretty sure Jason knew what the song was, judging from the soft, sad humming he could barely hear from the son of Jupiter.

He sat next to Jason within arm's reach, a bleached skull jutting forth from the obsidian in between them. Nico had his legs crossed and his aviator jacket wrapped around his waist while his hands rested on his knees. The air was hotly humid that evening, and it made a few strands of his hair cling to his nape. Jason's hands rested on the obsidian roof, supporting his upper body weight as he leaned back on them with his legs laid out straight and just slightly parted before him. It was a wonder how the fire seemed to flicker in Jason's sky-blue orbs as his steady gaze never left the fire at the center of the ring of cabins.

After that campfire song, Jason stopped humming. For a few more songs' worth of time, they both stayed silent in each other's company. Nico felt fine with no talking. It didn't feel uncomfortable just being with Jason on the rooftop. He couldn't say the same for Jason, whose eyes held a sort of lingering sadness and hint of unease.

"What's on your mind?" Nico asked, looking at Jason from the corner of his eye.

Jason's eyes never left the bonfire as he said, "It's going to be curfew pretty soon."

Nico hummed in reply, tapping one of his booted feet against the roof.

At the mention of curfew, Nico considered asking Jason a few questions before they retired to their respective cabins for the night, even if he _was_ likely to sneak into Cabin 1 in the dead of night just to see if Jason was okay.

But bringing up the subject of Piper with Jason would be akin to stepping into a field of landmines, and Nico definitely didn't want to set him off. He didn't know if Jason would assume a foetal position of grief, do some sort of acrobatic fucking pirouette off the handle, or something else just as extreme.

Still. The Ghost King just didn't want to go to bed knowing that Jason would probably have another nightmare and wake up screaming like last night.

Nico just went with the relatively safe question of: "Are you willing to talk about last night?"

Jason pursed his lips before responding. "What about last night?

"The screaming," Nico replied.

Silence.

"It's a nightly thing, am I correct?"

Jason hesitated before saying "Yes."

"They haven't stopped even for one night, have they?" Nico redirected his gaze to the campers around the fire.

For about half a minute, he heard nothing from Jason. Nico was about to drop the subject and suggest that they get down from the roof and call it a night, but the son of Jupiter broke the silence first.

"I dreamt of something else when you helped me… calm down," Jason said, not looking at the son of Hades.

Nico had a brow raised in question, glancing at him from the corner of his eye. "Was it a good dream? You didn't exactly scream at my face when you woke up this morning."

Jason winced. "Not exactly," the son of Jupiter said.

Nico expected him to say more, but it seemed like Jason had nothing more to say about the subject.

Nico would be lying if he said he wasn't anxious to know what exactly was bothering Jason, so when he opened his mouth to speak, he almost flinched at his own cynical tone.

"Do you even trust me?"

Jason whipped his head to the side to stare at Nico, looking mostly offended and a bit afraid. "I _do._ I really do."

Nico looked at him skeptically.

Jason seemed to shrink under Nico's gaze, if that was even possible. "I just can't burden you with _my_ problems," he said, his face now painted with hurt.

"You are no burden, Jason." Nico's grip on his knees tightened as he stared hard at his companion. "I'll always be willing to help you through anything. You can tell me."

Jason hugged his knees to his chest and buried his head in between his knees. Nico briefly wondered if this would be a repeat of last night's encounter.

"Tomorrow. Definitely tomorrow. I promise I'll tell you. Just… not now."

And with that reply, Nico was already satisfied, but still quite worried. He had to make sure to be by Jason's side during and after a nightmare to make the Roman settle down. Nico debated on what time to shadow-travel to Cabin 1 to watch Jason for any disturbances in his sleep.

But Jason's next words solved his problem.

"Nico, could you wake me up when you think I'm having a nightmare?" The son of Jupiter sounded a little desperate.

"You want me to sleep in your cabin?" Nico asked just to clarify.

"Yeah. I mean, if it's not any trouble," Jason said, still with his head resting against his knees.

Nico was given a chance to be with Jason for an entire night. He wasn't one to refuse Jason's invitation, now that thoughts of setting alarms to rouse himself from slumber and expending energy for shadow-travel to an area only a short walk away to check on the Roman were pushed aside.

"Sure. I can do that," he replied coolly, standing up and bending down to offer Jason a hand in getting up from his sitting position on the roof. Jason, who looked up at Nico as soon as he heard a yes, smiled sheepishly and grasped the hand offered to him.

"Thanks, man."

* * *

Jason wasn't naked.

That night, the son of Jupiter chose to wear a clean white shirt and blue pajama bottoms with red trimming and a Superman logo pattern.

Nico scoffed at Jason's choice of sleepwear as he lounged on the bed with a pillow in his arms. "Superman PJs? Really, Grace?"

Jason scratched the back of his neck as he approached the bed after shutting the cabinet door.

"Would you rather I go back to sleeping naked again?" Jason raised one brow and cracked a smile. That smile was a lot better than the discomfort and worry that had graced Jason's face earlier.

"I'd prefer you clothed, thank you very much." He rolled his eyes, jokingly hitting Jason's face with a pillow he threw. It was a pillow he brought over from Hades' Cabin. Nico thought it wasn't fair that he had slept without a pillow last night when Jason abandoned the only pillow on the bed to use his left arm, so he made sure to bring his own.

Jason laughed as he shielded his face with his arms. "Don't you have anything that isn't in black?"

Nico hummed in thought, looking down at his own black shirt and black cotton shorts, and said "No" as he gave Jason a small smile. Jason bent down and picked up Nico's pillow, tossing the object onto the bed and flashing Nico a grin.

Jason sauntered to the light switch near the door and turned off the lights that lit every alcove in the cabin. Nico waited for him in silence, snuggling underneath the thin sheets on his side of the bed after putting a reasonable distance between their pillows.

Nico lay on his side, facing away from Jason as the mattress dipped with the son of Jupiter's weight. Jason's movements rocked the bed for a few seconds before he let out a tired sigh as the bed went still.

Nico craned his neck to look back at him, lying on his back with the sheets up to his chest. Jason's eyes were closed and his clasped hands were resting above his stomach. The Roman would have made a dashing corpse if not for the color in his cheeks and the lack of a black suit and tie.

Nico's eyes widened and he coughed like something had went down the wrong pipe upon realizing that he thought that about Jason. No, Nico didn't have a weird thing for corpses. He just found them hauntingly lovely when they're prepped up for burial, that's all. Totally normal for a child of a death god. Nico nervously laughed in his head.

"You okay?" Jason had opened his eyes and turned his head to Nico.

Nico turned to lie on his other side, facing Jason but not meeting Jason's eyes, and gripped the sheets to his chest with his head bowed. "Yeah."

"… You know, you don't have to do this if you don't want to," Jason said softly, yawning afterwards.

"Jason, I said I'd do it. It's okay," he whispered.

Nico rested his ringed hand in between them, unintentionally brushing his knuckles lightly against the sleeve of Jason's shirt. His fingers curled into a fist in between them as Nico looked back up to see Jason's heavy-lidded eyes studying his face. Jason mouthed a _'thank you'_ to him before closing his eyes.

Nico buried his cheek against his pillow as he felt his lips tug up into a small smile before he fell asleep.

* * *

"No," Jason murmured. "Piper, I-" Jason's words got cut off by a strangled cry.

Nico's eyes flew open, and he winced, feeling his head spin.

_What time is it?_

His mouth felt dry. Nico only started to register Jason's whimpers that had awoken him amidst the soft rumbling from above them.

_Jason. Oh gods._

Nico groped for Jason's hand in the dark room that would suddenly light up every few seconds due to the flashes of lightning that streaked across the mosaic on the ceiling. The blinking lights only made his head hurt more.

But screw the headache, Jason needed to be woken up.

Nico's hand found Jason's, which had been holding the sheets tightly like before. The son of Hades managed to sit up, albeit groggily, as he tried to blink the sleepiness out of his eyes.

"Jason, wake up!" Nico leaned over Jason like he had done last night, and tried to shake him awake. He dug his nails into the thin fabric of the sleeves of Jason's shirt, expecting the pain to jolt him awake.

In response, Jason's hands had flown from the sheets to Nico's forearms to hold them in a death grip. Nico was sure that there'd be bruises on them in the morning.

Jason's hands were trembling and sweaty against Nico's skin. Jason's scrunched-up eyes threatened to shed tears as he muttered Piper's name.

Nico didn't like seeing Jason this way. The nightmares had to stop.

As Jason continued to call out for Piper, the son of Hades leaned down until his lips barely touched the shell of the Roman's ear.

"Wake up! She's _gone,_ Jason," Nico hissed. That only made Jason cry out louder for her.

It looked like a gentler approach was required.

"I'm here," Nico crooned into Jason's ear, shushing him. "I'm right here. Wake up. _Please._ "

It was as if Nico had been capable of Charmspeak. The son of Jupiter quieted and his grip went slack on Nico's arms. His breathing was still quick as if he had run a marathon, but at least it was slowing down to a more normal pace.

Electric blue eyes flew open when Nico assumed his earlier position of his face hovering above Jason's with a little over a foot's worth of space between them. Not enough to startle him if Jason screams again. The Roman's eyes took in the sight of Nico's face, searching frantically for something.

"N-Nico… Nico…" Jason's voice cracked. He hoped Jason wasn't about to cry again.

Jason's hands reached out and tapped the younger boy's cheeks, stroked his eyebrows and felt the corner of his lips. It wasn't a series of loving gestures; it was more of a patdown.

"You're real," Jason breathed. Nico put the back of his hand against Jason's forehead, feeling for any significant rise in temperature.

"I'm real. And I'm _really_ glad I didn't have to slap you this time," Nico spoke, brushing Jason's hair back before releasing Jason and sitting cross-legged next to him as he slipped out of the older demigod's touch. Jason brought his hands to his own face, covering his eyes as he let out a shaky breath.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Nico asked.

The Roman groaned softly.

* * *

"It's technically tomorrow now. I'm pretty sure it's already past midnight," Nico remarked.

Jason tried calming down, not trusting himself to speak just yet.

 _You are no burden, Jason,_ he could almost hear Nico say.

Nico's intentions were good, Jason supposed.

_I'll always be willing to help you through anything._

Jason had no reason not to believe what Nico had told him. There had to be a reason why Nico stayed with Jason for as long as he did, and why Nico was _right there_ next to him.

_You can tell me._

Jason gulped, feeling his hands tremble. "Piper swore to the River Styx that she'd protect me."

Nico was so silent that Jason thought his voice wasn't loud enough for the son of Hades to hear. But he uncovered one of his eyes to look at Nico and he saw the younger demigod watching him intently like he had always been doing since he came back to Camp Half-Blood. Nico was listening. Always listening.

Jason settled for clasping his hands together above his chest, but that didn't keep them from shaking.

"The fact that she wanted to protect me… It made me happy then. But I wish she hadn't sworn that oath in the first place. I don't think you saw what happened since that battle had been a huge mess-" Jason wore a wry smile. "-but she took a Cyclops' punch for me," Jason's voice quieted. "If only I'd been stronger. If I could have just _killed_ them sooner. Because of _me_ , she- she-"

Jason shut his eyes and took a deep breath before he could get the urge to cry.

"I should have died, Nico. If I had died, she'd still be alive," Jason said with an air of resignation.

* * *

Nico wanted to say that even if it did happen, his death didn't guarantee Piper's life spared by that battle against Gaea's forces, but he chose not to. It wasn't going to help Jason right now.

"I felt like I killed her," Jason continued.

"You _didn't_ kill her. Piper chose to die for you. She didn't want you to die." Nico sounded like he was stating simple facts, because they _were_ simple facts. He'd drill them into Jason's thick skull if he had to.

"Moving on was the hard part. I tried dating new people. I already told you it never worked out." Jason's smile was brittle as he opened his eyes. "Snuck in cigs and booze from outside, but I didn't have the guts to finish a stick or a glass. Piper wouldn't have wanted me to be dependent on those things."

_This was new. Why didn't he tell me this sooner?_

Jason's face turned grim. "I even considered killing myself."

 _No._ Nico's throat suddenly felt constricted. He hoped Jason knew how hard he was trying to glare at the son of Jupiter.

"I couldn't do it. I always felt like I couldn't leave you guys alone. It wouldn't be fair to Piper either. I bet she'd hate me if I killed myself."

"I'm sure she's not the only one who's going to _hate_ you if you killed yourself." Nico said, voice laced with contempt.

"I'm sorry." Jason didn't want to meet the son of Hades' eyes.

"Don't you _ever_ think about dying, you understand?" Nico was furious.

"I'm sorry." Jason repeated, sounding more miserable.

Nico pursed his lips. "You didn't talk to anyone about this?"

Jason shook his head. "I already told you. I didn't want to be a burden to anyone. They have their own problems, and so do you. I don't wanna add to them."

"Jason, you're _not_ a burden. Stop _acting_ like this. I- I _care_ about you."

Jason was looking at him now, in surprise.

"And _they_ care about you, too," Nico quickly added.

Jason must have taken that as a signal to keep talking and pour his heart out, because the Roman told him everything from the funeral, to Piper's belongings being given away, to a more detailed description of his attempts to get over her, to hiding everything from his friends and, by extension, everyone else. Everything Jason had said was earnestly listened to by the Ghost King.

When Jason finished, tears were running down his face.

"Jason. Her death is not your fault," Nico said. "You didn't kill her."

Jason didn't look like he believed Nico.

"Look, she loves you. And she said that hanging on to her is only giving you grief. I don't- She doesn't want to see you like this." The Ghost King didn't know what else to say.

All Jason did was reach for Nico's hand as he continued to weep. It didn't look like he was going to stop crying any time soon. Nico felt Jason's trembling hand in his and grasped it, trying to steady it. It was hard to watch Jason act this way, but Nico couldn't tear his gaze away from the son of Jupiter's pained puffy-eyed tearstained face.

Nico pulled his pillow closer to Jason's and lay down, not letting go of Jason's hand. Jason curled up in a loose foetal position facing Nico as he did this. Nico used his free hand to stroke Jason's hair as the Roman huddled closer to where Nico lay. It helped quiet Jason's sobbing and reduce the quaking of his shoulders. Nico did this for a long while until he was sure Jason was asleep.

He lightly thumbed the path of a dried tear down Jason's cheek and bit his lip, wishing there was some way he could help Jason besides being physically present.

But Nico's eyelids felt heavy, and he succumbed to sleep before he could think of anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: There was a Homestuck reference right there. *wink* (I'm still suffering from the Gigapause tbh.)
> 
> Anyway, I guess we're halfway to the ending that I planned out, plot-wise and _not_ chapter-wise. o-o


	8. Worst Dudebro Ever

_It's okay, Jason._

Leo's in front of him, smiling. But his dark brown eyes are sad. The Latino stretched out his arms, welcoming Jason into them.

_It's gonna be okay._

Leo's voice resounded in Jason's head as Leo opened his mouth to speak.

Jason felt an undeniable rush of euphoria when he hugged Leo back. No longer was his best friend walking away from him. No more judging looks. No more venomous words. Just Leo, telling him that things will be fine.

Jason felt something squeeze his hand.

He opened his eyes.

* * *

 

This time, Nico woke up first. Jason's face, considerably more peaceful and less puffy than last night, was a few inches away from his. He felt his hand still in Jason's grip in between them as they lay facing each other. But before he could tug his hand free, Jason groaned and slowly opened his eyes.

"Nico," he croaked.

"Hey," Nico said. Jason smiled sleepily at him with half-lidded eyes.

"You feeling better?" Nico asked.

Jason nodded. "Thanks. You know, for last night."

"Anytime, Jason." Nico returned his smile with a small one of his own and felt Jason squeeze his hand.

"I think… I think I should tell Leo about it," Jason said after a brief pause, his smile fading.

"You're sure about this?" Nico asked.

Jason scrunched his eyes shut. "I'd have to tell him eventually," he replied, taking a deep breath. "I'd have to do it before I change my mind or chicken out."

Nico's smile grew a little wider. "I think you're doing the right thing," he said. Nico hoped that this decision would do Jason some good. "Don't be afraid to tell Leo. He's your friend, remember?"

He hummed in acknowledgement as he opened his eyes. "Best friend," Jason muttered, looking into Nico's eyes.

Jason's gaze seemed to grow softer the longer Nico stared. The son of Hades broke eye contact, cleared his throat and tried to sit up on the bed. "Want me to go with you?" he asked Jason.

"I think I can handle it on my own," Jason replied.

"When exactly _will_ you talk to Leo?" Nico looked beside him, observing Jason as he sat up with their shoulders and arms touching.

Jason yawned. "After wall-climbing," he said. Fair enough.

Nico looked down at his forearms and, as expected, there were bruises. They stood out, purple and blotchy against his pale skin. Five ugly marks no bigger than an inch on each arm where Jason's fingers had painfully dug into his skin.

 _At least they didn't bleed._ Nico frowned. He'd have to remember not to remove his jacket for the rest of the day just to hide them.

Jason must have followed Nico's gaze because he heard a soft _oh gods_ escape those lips.

"Nico…" Jason started. Nico could practically hear the stream of apologies about to come out of Jason's mouth.

"Jason, it's okay. I'm fine," Nico said, not wanting Jason to make a big deal out of it. He clenched his hands, and then remembered that he was still holding one of Jason's.

"But-"

"You weren't even fully aware of what you were doing last night," Nico interrupted.

"I _hurt_ you." Jason's hand, which was still in Nico's hand, trembled.

"I know you didn't mean it. Just stop worrying about it." Nico heard a small whine that made Jason sound like a kicked puppy. Did Jason pick that up from the wolves he said he had grown up with?

Nico bumped his shoulder against Jason's. "We got a wall to climb, remember?"

* * *

 

Nico won.

Jason rolled his eyes at Nico's smirking face as he reached the top of the wall only a few seconds behind. He hoisted himself up and dusted his hands as Nico walked up to him, practically sneering as he had his hands shoved inside the pockets of his aviator jacket.

"You're really fast," Jason commented, wiping the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand. Nico only chuckled.

"I should, uh, probably get going. You know. Leo," Jason said.

Nico nodded. "Take as long as you need. I'll wait for you at your cabin with a surprise." He grinned at Jason.

"Is it brownies?" Jason asked eagerly.

Nico didn't answer, but his smile widened a fraction. He disappeared after stepping into Jason's shadow.

* * *

 

Nico had appeared from the shadow of one of Terminus' statues after dropping by Hades' Cabin to grab some spare denarii. He was welcomed back by the god of boundaries like before, and Nico made his way to one of New Rome's bakeries to buy a dozen brownies for Jason. He sensed that Hazel wasn't in New Rome, so he shadow-travelled with the bag of baked goods to the mess hall.

The legionnaires were filing out of the mess hall when Nico had arrived. He spotted Hazel walking near the back of the group. Nico approached her swiftly and placed a hand on Hazel's shoulder. She whipped her head to the side, shock replaced by worry on her face. Nico took her hand and led her to a deserted corridor.

"Did anything bad happen to you? Or Jason?" Hazel lowered her voice, speaking to Nico.

"Jason decided to open up to Leo. He's making progress," Nico whispered back.

Hazel beamed at him. "That's great!"

"Yeah." He returned her smile with one of his own small smiles. "I just bought him brownies too," he said, referring to the paper bag in his other hand.

Hazel squeezed his hand. "Do you think he'll want to open up to the rest of us now?"

"It's possible. It depends on how it goes with Valdez, but I think they'll be fine. If not, then Jason would have you guys to comfort him," Nico replied. "I was hoping you could tell the others about it so we can all see Jason together."

* * *

 

Nico realized that, as Hazel resolutely told Percy and Annabeth about Jason's situation, he had wanted to confide in Hazel about the secret he had been keeping from her. If Jason could do it with Leo, why couldn't he open up to his own sister, right?

But Nico bit his tongue. He thought he needed more time. He wasn't prepared. And now wasn't a good time either. Now, it was going to be about Jason opening up to these people as these people needed to reassure Jason that he was going to be fine.

Frank had slipped away from his praetor duties just so he could come with Hazel, Annabeth, Percy and Nico after Hazel told him about it. They joined hands in a circle, with Nico in between Hazel and Percy. Nico and Hazel held on to the bag of brownies.

But before they could shadow-travel to Camp Half-Blood, Frank froze like a deer caught in the headlights. Nico followed his gaze to Reyna making their way towards them.

"Hello, praetor." Reyna told Frank as she moved towards him with Aurum and Argentum at her heels.

"Hi Reyna." Percy beamed.

"Hello, ex-praetor," Reyna told Percy. She gave him a ghost of a smile very briefly before directing a serious piercing stare to Frank.

"Frank," she started. "I know I had given you a few days after Piper's funeral to finish your affairs at Camp Half-Blood a few weeks ago, but I believe you can't be excused this time. It's your turn to meet with Octavian. You and I also have to meet with the Senators afterwards."

Reyna's eyes screamed ' _Don't even think about it'_ as her dogs snarled at the other praetor as he opened his mouth to say something. They might have sensed a lie disguised as an excuse starting to form in Frank's throat. Frank quickly shut his mouth and bowed his head as he let out a disappointed sigh. "I understand, Reyna."

The son of Mars exchanged a meaningful glance with Hazel before he let her hand and Annabeth's hand go. He headed for Temple Hill, clearly upset that he wouldn't get to go with them to see Jason.

Reyna trained her eyes on the four others, but lingered on Nico and the bag of brownies he and Hazel held between them.

Nico let Percy's hand go and stretched out his hand to Reyna, telling her, "You can come with us to see Jason if you want."

Reyna smiled at this and shook her head. "It must be important for all of you to go to the Greek camp to see Jason. I can't go, but I'm sure he'll be fine if he's surrounded by people like you." Reyna looked at Nico upon mentioning that last word. Her gaze was soft as she met Nico's dark eyes. After a split-second, she turned around and followed the path to Temple Hill with her dogs following closely behind her. Nico's eyes followed Reyna's form as she walked away.

"So. Let's go?" the son of Poseidon said. Percy's bright eyes scanned everyone's faces in the circle.

* * *

 

Leo really wanted to bring up his idea for a Slap-Leo-in-the-Face machine again. Only that he felt this was way worse than the time he blew up the Senate House.

Jason had visited him at Bunker 9. Jason had approached him for the first time in weeks, looking like he had something important to say, so Leo had patted the spot on the bench beside him for Jason to sit down and talk to him. And Jason had told him a lot of worrying things. Very worrying things. Nightmares about Piper's death? Drinking? Smoking? Wanting to kill himself? Really bad news. Leo felt like he had let Jason down with how he hasn't been around for the dude. He was now feeling like the worst dudebro ever.

And then Jason had brought up how Nico had come back to Camp Half-Blood with news of Piper's ghost telling him to move on.

"Nico summoned her ghost. It's what he's been trying to do since he disappeared," Jason said.

"Why didn't he tell us he was trying to find her?" Leo asked. "We could have had the chance to talk to her one last time."

"It doesn't matter, Leo. She's gone. Piper chose rebirth. We can't do anything about it."

Leo cursed under his breath. He sighed tiredly and ran a hand down his face, feeling mad at himself. "I'm _really_ sorry, Jason. I should have been around for you more. I thought giving you space would help but I guess I was wrong."

"It's okay, man. Really. I've… felt a whole lot better when Nico came back."

Leo snorted in derision. "When did you two become so buddy-buddy?"

"You jealous?" Jason teased.

Leo frowned. "I'm not. It's just, I dunno, _weird_. You guys suddenly became friends out of the blue."

"Guess you can say we're fast friends." Jason shrugged.

"Probably. But man, I'm just glad he was there for you when I wasn't. I really should have been with you for this."

"Stop beating yourself up about it, Leo. I told you it's fine." Jason smiled at him but Leo was still uneasy.

Jason continued to talk. "I've been dreaming about you the past few weeks. You were walking away from me, and I couldn't catch up with you no matter how far I ran or how fast I flew. You just kept getting farther and farther away."

"I really haven't been around for you." Leo averted his gaze, his expression bitter.

"But last night, I dreamed about you again," Jason said. "You were telling me that things were okay, that things were gonna be okay, while you were hugging me. And I needed that."

* * *

 

Leo pursed his lips, scrunching up his face like he was about to cry and pulled Jason into his arms, saying "I'm so sorry. It's gonna be okay, man. You're gonna be okay."

Jason let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding in and curled an arm around Leo's waist to pull him closer. He rested his chin on Leo's shoulder, taking a deep breath and feeling tears well up in his eyes. He missed Leo this much. He had told Leo what he wanted to say, and felt a lot lighter afterwards. They stayed like that for a while, locked in a warm embrace in the noisy environment of Bunker 9.

Jason pulled back and blinked back the tears successfully. With a gentle smile on his face, he asked, "So how's the cornucopia?"

"The cornucopia?" Leo looked up at Jason's face. "Heh, it's fine, I guess. Sometimes I like to imagine Piper cheering me on with food so I'd be more motivated to finish my current project." Leo lightened up a little.

"Current project?"

Leo winked at him. "It's a secret between me and Pipes." Leo patted the horn on the table as he said so.

"Must be pretty big." Jason continued to smile.

"It's pretty important, yeah," Leo suddenly had a faraway look on his face as he smiled sadly. But as soon as he saw Jason's face, the faraway look was replaced with mischievous glee. "You'll be the first to know when I'm done with it," Leo said.

"I'm looking forward to it," Jason gave Leo a nod. "Wanna get out of Bunker 9 for a while? I mean, if it's not too much trouble-"

"Are you kidding me? I haven't taken a break in weeks! _Weeks,_ Jason."

Jason laughed as he stood from his seat, standing back to give Leo room to get up from the bench.

"Where's Nico?" Leo asked.

"He said he was gonna wait for me back at Cabin 1," Jason replied.

"Have you guys had breakfast yet?"

"No."

"No reason not to have a picnic at your cabin, right?" Leo grabbed the cornucopia and stashed it in his toolbelt. Jason grinned.

"So, do you wanna walk all the way to my cabin or do you want me to fly us there?"

"Nah, I need to walk," Leo replied. "My legs feel cramped." Leo stood up from his workbench and stretched his back, hearing audible popping as he did so. He rotated his left foot, then his right, and then clapped Jason on his back.

"Let's go," Leo said.


End file.
